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Prof. John Anthony's publication titled "The Effect of Regioisomerism on the Crystal Packing and Device Performance of Desymmetrized Anthradithiophenes" was selected as a Hot Article for 2015 in the Journal of Materials Chemistry C, and as such it has been included in the Hot Article 2015 web collection, which can be viewed here (see page 2).

Corrine "Nina" Elliott, an undergraduate student majoring in chemistry and mathematics at UK, is the receipient of a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) from the American Chemical Soceity's Division of Organic Chemistry. This $5,000 fellowship will allow Corrine to continue research in the Chemistry Department at the University of Kentucky for the Summer of 2016.

Since the discovery of nickel-catalyzed cyclization of acetylene to benzene and cyclooctatetraene, transition-metal-activated cycloaddition of alkynes has become a powerful technique to construct ring compounds in organic synthesis. Although cyclo-trimerization and -tetramerization were discovered almost 70 years ago, direct metal-mediated acetylene oligomerization to polycyclic compounds has not been reported. Instead, cycloaddition of different alkynes, or alkynes with alkenes or arynes, has been used to synthesize polycyclic and other complex ring structures.

Three chemistry undergraduate researchers from the University of Kentucky, along with more than 200 other student representatives from across the state, presented their research Frankfort, KY, on February 25th to showcase their research to the state legislature at Posters at the Capitol.

On February 22, 2016 John Anthony, a Chemistry professor at the University of Kentucky had an article featured in the Nature Communications publication. The article titled, "Reducing dynamic disorder in small-molecule organic semiconductors by suppressing large-amplitude thermal motions," deals with understanding performance vibrations in organic semiconductors.

The editors of the journal Energy Technology named an article by University of Kentucky Chemistry Professor Susan Odom one of the top 10 articles of 2015. Odom’s publication, "A Highly Soluble Organic Catholyte for Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries," was selected based on the number of downloads and citations, and the feedback of the journal’s editorial office Energy Technology publishes articles covering all technical aspects of energy process engineering from different angles.

Nature uses microvascular structures as a central element of complex materials that grow, regenerate, and improve themselves and their function. Work into synthesizing microvascular materials has recently taken a step forward in the form of a new synthetic process VaSC (Vaporization of a Sacrificial Component) that enables the formation of 3D microstructures that are meters in length. I report on our recent advances in using VaSC to create three-dimensional gas exchange units modeled on the design of avian lungs. I will focus on mass transfer applications for the capture of CO2. I will also report on recent research into creating high surface area micro-structures, the synthesis of cooperative binders of CO2 and chemical reactions mediated by photo-thermal effects. Finally, I will talk about adapting microvascular structure to allow them to improve their functions through chemical remodeling.

Phenothiazine derivatives have seen widespread use as stable electron-donating organic compounds with generally stable oxidized states, which makes them an attractive core for functionalization for use in electrochemical energy storage applications. With phenothiazine itself as a starting material, functionalization of the 3, 7, and 10 positions is facile, providing options to modify redox potentials and improve stability in both the neutral and singly oxidized (radical cation) states. Additionally, this ring system can be built from aryl amines and aryl bromides, allowing for the production of compounds with even more functionalization, including incorporating groups at the 1 and 9 positions and – in some cases – at every sp2-hybridized C atom in the aromatic core. In many cases, computational studies have predicted what we have observed experimentally, and often guides our design of next-generation materials. This presentation focuses on the characterization of phenothiazine derivatives, both from experimental and computational approaches, and includes results from their incorporation into lithium-ion batteries as electrolyte additives for overcharge protection as well as studies toward using them in non-aqueous redox flow batteries as catholytes.

This seminar is part of the 2015-16 Energy Storage Seminar Series at UK supported by NSF EPSCoR under Award No. 1355438.